First Look Review

Laser-Cut minis are super realistic miniature plants. These model flowers look great! Colorful, unique shapes, fine printed details, and they really enhance a scene. Whether used for HO layouts or other scenery dioramas, it has never been easier to create super realistic flowerbeds, gardens or garden plots on your model landscape. Some are flocked with colored flower petals.

Introduction

NOCH GmbH & Co. KG of Wangen im Allgäu, a medieval city dating to 815, is a 100 year-old German scenery company. In four generations of family ownership, NOCH is established as one of the premier scenic model makers, and has commenced a line of laser-cut model buildings. Among NOCH's products are:

Grass, shrubs, rock bands, rock walls, road paving supplies, playground accessories, bedroom and living room and kitchen and dining room furniture, tools, trees, gardening tools, NOCH’s product line boasts some 1000 items with which modelers and model railroaders of any skill can create the scene of their dreams.

Laser-Cut minis

Now NOCH uses laser technology to cut highly detailed models of flowers, reeds, cabbage, nettles, and other plants. NOCH currently advertises 37 of these sets in three scales, HO, TT, and N. The mini-plants are ready to use, plant them right out of the package with a drop of glue.

Flower garden / Blumengarten, Laser-Cut minis

Lilies, red foxglove, sage, roses, and blooming flowers, you can populate your garden with these sharply cut plant models. These plants are securely packaged in a clear plastic container with individual cells for each of the 17 flowers. The pack is stapled onto an eye-catching yellow sturdy card backing. The card front sports a photograph of a model garden while the back has textual and photographic instructions for using the models, in several languages.

Each flower is laser-cut from sturdy paper. The paper is not too stiff to form, nor so lax that it can’t that it hold a shape. I find the models recognizable for the plants they represent. While NOCH cut them for HO, these can pass for flowers for larger scales.

Details

These are not cut from plain green paper. Look closely. NOCH prints veins and other colored detail to the leaves and stems. To further enhance realism NOCH uses colorful fine particles to simulate blossoms. It even appears that different particles are used to simulate different blossoms.

Please remember to tell vendors and manufacturers that you saw their products here—on RailroadModeling.net!

SUMMARY

Highs: The models are recognizable for the plants they represent. Colorful, unique shapes, and fine printed details allow these to enhance your scenery.Lows: The blooms shed a little.Verdict: Easy to use, great appearance, these model flowers have many uses.

I'm a professional pilot with a degree in art.
My first model was an AMT semi dump truck. Then Monogram's Lunar Lander right after the lunar landing. Next, Revell's 1/32 Bf-109G...cried havoc and released the dogs of modeling!
My interests--if built before 1900, or after 1955, then I proba...